Corvette ZR1’s Supercharged LS9 Nominated for Engine of the Year Award

On May 7th, 62 renowned motoring journalists from 30 countries will gather at the Engine Expo 2008 in Stuttgart Germany to cast their ballots for “The International Engine of the Year Award”. Competition is always stiff and for engineers of the respective nominees, bragging rights for winning the world’s best engine is the crowning achievement following years of development and testing.

Corvette’s 6.2L Supercharged LS9 has been an internet sensation since the first spy photos of the ZR1 were published. Early on in the LS9’s development, GM’s engineers targeted 100 horsepower per liter and the engine is currently billed as producing 620 total horsepower and 595 pounds of torque. But the signature feature of the LS9 is the engine’s ability of creating more power at lower RPM’s. The engine produces 300 hp at 3,000 rpm. Those in the know say that as horsepower rises the torque curve just keeps going up with no sign of leveling.

But the LS9 will have some steep competition if it looks to bring home the Engine of the Year Award from Stuttgart. The Internet’s newest sensation, the Nissan GT-R, has its 3.8L twin turbo V6 is in the running as well as Mitsubishi’s 2.0L twin turbo I4 (Mitsubishi EVO X), Audi’s 5.2L V10 (Audi S8) and BMW’s 4.0L V8 (BMW M3).

Ballots will be counted on May 7th and we’re pulling for our boys from GM and their spectacular 6.2L Supercharged LS9 V8 engine.